High-strength galvanized steel sheet and method for producing the same

ABSTRACT

A high-strength galvanized steel sheet that includes a chemical composition containing, by mass %, C: 0.15% or more and 0.25% or less, Si: 0.50% or more and 2.5% or less, Mn: 2.3% or more and 4.0% or less, P: 0.100% or less, S: 0.02% or less, Al: 0.01% or more and 2.5% or less, and Fe and inevitable impurities. The steel sheet having a microstructure containing, by an area percentage basis, a tempered martensite phase: 30% or more and 73% or less, a ferrite phase: 25% or more and 68% or less, a retained austenite phase: 2% or more and 20% or less, and other phases: 10% or less (including 0%), the other phases containing a martensite phase: 3% or less (including 0%) and a bainitic ferrite phase: less than 5% (including 0%).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a high-strength galvanized steel sheet and a method for producing the high-strength galvanized steel sheet. The high-strength galvanized steel sheet of the present disclosure is suitably used as a steel sheet for automobiles.

BACKGROUND ART

To reduce the amount of CO₂ emission in view of global environmental conservation, an improvement in the fuel consumption of automobiles by reducing the weight of automobile bodies while maintaining the strength of automobile bodies is always an important issue in the automobile industry. In order to reduce the weight of automobile bodies while maintaining the strength thereof, it is effective to reduce the thickness of galvanized steel sheets used as materials for automobile parts by increasing the strength of steel sheets. Meanwhile, many of automobile parts composed of steel sheets are formed by press working or burring working, or the like. Therefore, it is desired that high-strength galvanized steel sheets used as materials for automobile parts have good formability in addition to desired strength.

In recent years, high-strength galvanized steel sheets having a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more have been increasingly used as materials for automobile body frames. High-strength galvanized steel sheets are required to have good bendability, good ductility, and in particular, good uniform elongation for the formation thereof. Parts composed of high-strength galvanized steel sheets are required to have high yield strength in view of crashworthiness, and it is extremely important to achieve all these properties. Various high-strength galvanized steel sheets have been developed under these circumstances.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a high-strength galvanized steel sheet having good bendability owing to the control of precipitates and a technology, as a method for producing thereof, for controlling the cooling rate of molten steel prior to solidification, an annealing temperature during annealing, and a subsequent cooling rate.

Patent Literature 2 discloses a high-strength galvanized steel sheet having good ductility and good bendability owing to the control of the balance between Si and Al, retained γ, and the Vickers hardness of a portion directly below a surface, and a technology, as a method for producing thereof, for controlling a finishing temperature, a coiling temperature, an annealing temperature range, a cooling rate after annealing, a cooling stop temperature, and a cooling stop holding time.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-16319

PTL 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-270126

SUMMARY Technical Problem

In the technology described in Patent Literature 1, a precipitation hardened steel has high yield strength (YS) and low uniform elongation (UEL). There is no information about the steel in the range of a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more. There is no information about an improvement in the properties of the material by performing annealing multiple times.

In the technology described in Patent Literature 2, the steel has a low tensile strength (TS) less than 900 MPa, and there is room for improvement therein. Furthermore, there is no information about an improvement in the properties of the material by performing annealing multiple times.

The present disclosure has been accomplished in light of the foregoing problems in the related art. It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a high-strength galvanized steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more, high yield strength (YS), good uniform elongation, and good bendability, and a method for producing the high-strength galvanized steel sheet.

Solution to Problem

To overcome the foregoing problems and produce a galvanized steel sheet having high strength, good uniform elongation, and good bendability, the inventors have conducted intensive studies from the viewpoint of the chemical composition and the microstructure of the steel sheet and a method for producing the steel sheet, and have found the following.

A tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more, a yield strength (YS) of 850 MPa or more, a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more, and good bendability can be achieved by allowing a galvanized steel sheet to contain, by mass %, C: 0.15% or more and 0.25% or less, Si: 0.50% or more and 2.5% or less, Mn: 2.3% or more and 4.0% or less, and Al: 0.01% or more and 2.5% or less; and performing hot rolling, cold rolling, and annealing under appropriate conditions to allow the galvanized steel sheet to contain, on an area percentage basis, a tempered martensite phase: 30% or more and 73% or less, a ferrite phase: 25% or more and 68% or less, a retained austenite phase: 2% or more and 20% or less, and other phases: 10% or less (including 0%), the other phases containing a martensite phase: 3% or less (including 0%) and a bainitic ferrite phase: less than 5% (including 0%), the tempered martensite phase having an average grain size of 8 μm or less, and the retained austenite phase having a C content less than 0.7% by mass.

The present disclosure has been made on the basis of these findings. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below.

[1] A high-strength galvanized steel sheet includes a chemical composition containing, by mass %, C: 0.15% or more and 0.25% or less, Si: 0.50% or more and 2.5% or less, Mn: 2.3% or more and 4.0% or less, P: 0.100% or less, S: 0.02% or less, Al: 0.01% or more and 2.5% or less, and the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities; and

a steel-sheet microstructure containing, in terms of area fraction, a tempered martensite phase: 30% or more and 73% or less, a ferrite phase: 25% or more and 68% or less, a retained austenite phase: 2% or more and 20% or less, and other phases: 10% or less (including 0%), the other phases containing a martensite phase: 3% or less (including 0%) and a bainitic ferrite phase: less than 5% (including 0%), the tempered martensite phase having an average grain size of 8 μm or less, and the retained austenite phase having a C content less than 0.7% by mass.

[2] In the high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in [1], the chemical composition further contains, by mass %, at least one element selected from Cr: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, Ni: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, and Cu: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less.

[3] In the high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in [1] or [2], the chemical composition further contains, by mass %, B: 0.0002% or more and 0.0050% or less.

[4] In the high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in any one of [1] to [3], the chemical composition further contains, by mass %, at least one element selected from Ca: 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less and REM: 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less.

[5] In the high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in any one of [1] to [4], the galvanized steel sheet includes a galvannealed steel sheet.

[6] In the high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in any one of [1] to [5], the galvanized steel sheet has a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more.

[7] A method for producing a high-strength galvanized steel sheet includes:

a hot-rolling step of allowing a slab having the chemical composition described in any of [1] to [4] to have a temperature of 1100° C. or higher, hot-rolling the slab at a finish rolling temperature of 800° C. or higher to produce a hot-rolled steel sheet, and coiling the hot-rolled steel sheet at a coiling temperature of 550° C. or lower;

a cold-rolling step of cold-rolling the hot-rolled steel sheet at a cumulative rolling reduction of more than 20% to produce a cold-rolled steel sheet;

a pre-annealing step of heating the cold-rolled steel sheet to an annealing temperature of 800° C. or higher and 1000° C. or lower, holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the annealing temperature for 10 s or more, and cooling the cold-rolled steel sheet to a cooling stop temperature of 550° C. or lower at an average cooling rate of 5° C./s or more;

a final-annealing step of heating the cold-rolled steel sheet to 680° C. or higher and 790° C. or lower at an average heating rate of 10° C./s or less, holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the annealing temperature for 30 s or more and 1000 s or less, and cooling the cold-rolled steel sheet to a cooling stop temperature of 460° C. or higher and 550° C. or lower at an average cooling rate of 1.0° C./s or more, and holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the cooling stop temperature for 500 s or less;

a galvanization step of galvanizing the cold-rolled steel sheet that has been subjected to final annealing and cooling the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet to room temperature; and

a tempering step of tempering the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet at a tempering temperature of 50° C. or higher and 400° C. or lower.

[8] In the method for producing a high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in [7], the galvanization step includes, after the galvanization, galvannealing treatment in which the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet is held in a temperature range of 460° C. or higher and 580° C. or lower for 1 s or more and 120 s or less and then cooled to room temperature.

[9] The method for producing a high-strength galvanized steel sheet described in [7] or [8] further includes before and/or after the tempering step, a temper-rolling step of performing tempering at an elongation percentage of 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less.

It should be noted that in the present disclosure, the “high-strength galvanized steel sheet” refers to a steel sheet having a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more and includes a galvannealed steel sheet in addition to a galvanized steel sheet. Furthermore, galvanizing includes galvannealing in addition to galvanizing. In the case where a galvanized steel sheet and a galvannealed steel sheet need to be distinctively explained, these steel sheets are distinctively described.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to obtain a high-strength galvanized steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more, a high yield strength (YS) of 850 MPa or more, a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more, and good bendability in which when the steel sheet is bent at a bending radius of 2.0 mm, the length of a crack is 0.5 mm or less. The high-strength galvanized steel sheet is suitable as a material for automobile parts.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below. The symbol “%” that expresses the content of a component element refers to “% by mass” unless otherwise specified.

1) Chemical Composition

C: 0.15% or More and 0.25% or Less

C is an element needed to form a martensite phase or increase the hardness of a martensite phase to increase tensile strength (TS), Furthermore, C is an element needed to stabilize a retained austenite phase to obtain uniform elongation. When the C content is less than 0.15%, the martensite phase has low strength, and the retained austenite phase is insufficiently stabilized. It is thus difficult to achieve both a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more and a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more. When the C content is more than 0.25%, bendability is markedly degraded. Accordingly, the C content is 0.15% or more and 0.25% or less. The lower limit is preferably 0.16% or more. The upper limit is preferably 0.22% or less.

Si: 0.50% or More and 2.5% or Less

Si is an element effective in increasing the tensile strength (TS) of steel by solid solution strengthening. Furthermore, Si is an element effective in inhibiting the formation of cementite to provide a retained austenite phase. To achieve these effects, it is necessary to set the Si content to be 0.50% or more. An increase in Si content leads to the excessive formation of a ferrite phase to cause the degradation of the bendability, the coatability, and the weldability. Thus, an appropriate addition is preferred. Accordingly, the Si content is 0.50% or more and 2.5% or less, preferably 0.50% or more and 2.0% or less, and more preferably 0.50% or more and 1.8% or less.

Mn: 2.3% or More and 4.0% or Less

Mn is an element that increases the tensile strength (TS) of steel by solid solution strengthening, that inhibits ferrite transformation and bainite transformation, and that forms a martensite phase to increase the tensile strength (TS). Furthermore, Mn is an element that stabilizes an austenite phase to increase uniform elongation. To sufficiently provide these effects, the Mn content needs to be 2.3% or more. When the Mn content is more than 4.0%, inclusions increase significantly to cause the degradation of the bendability. Accordingly, the Mn content is 2.3% or more and 4.0% or less. The Mn content is preferably 2.3% or more and 3.8% or less and more preferably 2.3% or more and 3.5% or less.

P: 0.100% or Less

P is desirably minimized as much as possible because the bendability and the weldability are degraded by grain boundary segregation. The allowable upper limit of the P content in the present disclosure is 0.100%. The P content is preferably 0.050% or less and more preferably 0.020% or less. The lower limit is not particularly specified and preferably 0.001% or more because the P content of less than 0.001% leads to a reduction in production efficiency.

S: 0.02% or Less

S is present in the form of inclusions such as MnS and degrades weldability. Thus, the S content is preferably minimized as much as possible. The allowable upper limit of the S content in the present disclosure is 0.02%. The S content is preferably 0.0040% or less. The lower limit is not particularly specified and is preferably 0.0005% or more because the S content of less than 0.0005% leads to a reduction in production efficiency.

Al: 0.01% or More and 2.5% or Less

Al is an element effective in stabilizing an austenite phase to obtain a retained austenite phase. When the Al content is less than 0.01%, it is not possible to stabilize the austenite phase to obtain the retained austenite phase. When the Al content of more than 2.5%, a risk of slab cracking during the continuous casting increases and a ferrite phase is excessively formed during annealing. It is thus difficult to achieve both a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more and good bendability. Accordingly, the Al content is 0.01% or more and 2.5% or less. The Al content is preferably 0.01% or more and 1.0% or less and more preferably 0.01% or more and 0.6% or less from the viewpoint of inhibiting the excessive formation of the ferrite phase.

The balance is Fe and inevitable impurities. One or more elements described below may be appropriately contained therein, as needed.

At Least One Element Selected from Cr: 0.01% or More and 2.0% or Less, Ni: 0.01% or More and 2.0% or Less, and Cu: 0.01% or More and 2.0% or Less

Cr, Ni, and Cu are elements that form low-temperature transformation phases such as a martensite phase and thus are effective in increasing strength. To provide the effect, the content of at least one element selected from Cr, Ni, and Cu is 0.01% or more. When the content of each of Cr, Ni, and Cu is more than 2.0%, the effect is saturated. Accordingly, when these elements are contained, the content of each of Cr, Ni, and Cu is 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less. The lower limit of the content of each of the elements is preferably 0.1% or more. The upper limit is preferably 1.0% or less.

B: 0.0002% or More and 0.0050% or Less

B is an element that segregates to grain boundaries and thus is effective in inhibiting the formation of a ferrite phase and a bainite phase to promote the formation of a martensite phase. To sufficiently provide the effects, the B content needs to be 0.0002% or more. When the B content is more than 0.0050%, the effects are saturated to lead to cost increases. Accordingly, when B is contained, the B content is 0.0002% or more and 0.0050% or less. The lower limit of the B content is preferably 0.0005% or more in view of the formation of the martensite phase. The upper limit is preferably 0.0030% or less and more preferably 0.0020% or less.

At Least One Element Selected from Ca: 0.001% or More and 0.005% or Less and REM: 0.001% or More and 0.005% or Less

Ca and REM are elements effective in controlling the form of sulfides to improve formability. To provide the effect, the content of at least one element selected from Ca and REM is 0.001% or more. When each of the Ca content and the REM content is more than 0.005%, the cleanliness of steel might be adversely affected to degrade the properties. Accordingly, when these elements are contained, the content of each of Ca and REM is 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less.

2) Microstructure of Steel Sheet

Area Fraction of Tempered Martensite Phase: 30% or More and 73% or Less

When the area fraction of a tempered martensite phase is less than 30%, it is difficult to achieve both a high tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more and high bendability. When the area fraction of a tempered martensite phase is more than 73%, uniform elongation of the present disclosure is not provided. Accordingly, the area fraction of the tempered martensite phase is 30% or more and 73% or less. The lower limit of the area fraction is preferably 40% or more. The upper limit is preferably 70% or less and more preferably 65% or less.

Area Fraction of Ferrite Phase: 25% or More and 68% or Less

When the area fraction of a ferrite phase is less than 25%, the uniform elongation of the present disclosure is not obtained. When the area fraction of the ferrite phase is more than 68%, the yield strength (YS) of the present disclosure is not obtained. Accordingly, the area fraction of the ferrite phase is 25% or more and 68% or less. The lower limit of the area fraction is preferably 35% or more. The upper limit is preferably 60% or less. An unrecrystallized ferrite phase, which is undesirable for the ductility and the bendability, is not included in the ferrite phase in the present disclosure.

Area Fraction of Retained Austenite Phase: 2% or More and 20% or Less

When the area fraction of a retained austenite phase is less than 2%, it is difficult to achieve both a high tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more and a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more. When the area fraction of the retained austenite phase is more than 20%, the bendability is degraded. Accordingly, the area fraction of the retained austenite phase is 2% or more and 20% or less. The lower limit of the area fraction is preferably 3% or more. The upper limit is preferably 15% or less.

The microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure may be composed of three phases: a tempered martensite phase, a ferrite phase, and a retained austenite phase. Other phases may be allowable as long as the area fraction of the other phases is 10% or less. Because the other phases are undesirable for the bendability and the tensile strength (TS), the area fraction of the other phases is 10% or less, preferably less than 5%, and more preferably less than 3%. Examples of the other phases include a martensite phase, a bainitic ferrite phase, a pearlite phase, and an unrecrystallized ferrite phase.

Regarding the other phases, the allowable area fraction of each of the martensite phase and the bainitic ferrite phase is specified from the following reasons.

Area Fraction of Martensite Phase: 3% or Less (Including 0%)

When the area fraction of the martensite phase is more than 3%, the bendability are markedly degraded. Accordingly, the area fraction of the martensite is 3% or less, preferably 2% or less, and more preferably 1% or less.

Area Fraction of Bainitic Ferrite Phase: Less than 5% (Including 0%)

When the area fraction of the bainitic ferrite phase is 5% or more, it is difficult to achieve both a high tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more and a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more. Accordingly, the area fraction of the bainitic ferrite phase is less than 5%.

Average Grain Size of Tempered Martensite Phase: 8 μm or Less

When the average grain size of the tempered martensite phase is more than 8 μm, the bendability is markedly degraded. Accordingly, the average grain size of the tempered martensite is 8 μm or less. The average grain size is preferably 4 μm or less. Note that the grains of the tempered martensite phase in the present disclosure refer to grains of a tempered martensite phase surrounded by grain boundaries of a prior austenite phase or grain boundaries of a tempered martensite phase and other phases, such as a ferrite phase and a bainitic ferrite phase.

C Content of Retained Austenite Phase: Less than 0.7% by Mass

When the C content of the retained austenite phase is 0.7% by mass or more, the retained austenite phase is excessively stable. It is thus difficult to achieve both a high tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more and a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more. Accordingly, the C content of the retained austenite phase is less than 0.7% by mass and preferably 0.6% by mass. The C content of the retained austenite phase in the present disclosure is a value determined by X-ray diffraction.

The area fraction of each of the martensite phase, the tempered martensite phase, the ferrite phase, the bainitic ferrite phase, the pearlite phase, and the unrecrystallized ferrite phase in the present disclosure refers to the fraction of the area of the corresponding phase with respect to an observed area. The area fraction of each phase is determined by cutting samples from a steel sheet that has been subjected to a final production step, polishing a section parallel to a rolling direction, etching the section with a 3% nital, capturing images of three fields of view, for each sample, of a portion of the steel sheet below a zinc coat using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) at a magnification of ×1500, the portion being located away from a surface of the steel sheet by ¼ of the sheet thickness of the steel sheet, determining the area fraction of each phase from the resulting image data using Image-Pro from Media Cybernetics, Inc., and defining the average area fraction of each phase in the fields of view as the area fraction of each phase. The phases can be distinguished from each other in the image data as follows: the ferrite phase appears black, the martensite phase appears white and does not include a carbide, a tempered martensite phase appears gray and includes a carbide, the bainitic ferrite phase appears dark gray and includes a carbide or a martensite island phase, and the pearlite appears as black-and-white layers. The unrecrystallized ferrite phase appears black, includes sub-boundaries, and thus is distinguished from the ferrite phase. Because the martensite island phase is regarded as a tempered martensite phase in the present disclosure, the area fraction of the tempered martensite phase includes the area fraction of the martensite island phase.

The average grain size of the tempered martensite phase is determined as follows: The total area of the tempered martensite phase in the fields of view in the image data used for the determination of the area fraction is divided by the number of the tempered martensite phase to determine the average area. The square root of the average area is defined as the average grain size thereof.

The area fraction of the retained austenite phase is determined as follows: A steel sheet that has been subjected to a final production step is ground in such a manner that a portion of the steel sheet below the zinc coat, the portion being located away from a surface of the steel sheet by ¼ of the sheet thickness of the steel sheet, is a measurement surface. The steel sheet is further polished to a depth of 0.1 mm by chemical polishing. In the measurement surface located away from the surface of the steel sheet by ¼ of the sheet thickness, the integrated intensities of reflections from the (200), (220), and (311) planes of fcc iron (austenite phase) and the (200), (211), and (220) planes of bcc iron (ferrite phase) are measured with an X-ray diffractometer using MoKα radiation. The volume fraction is determined from the intensity ratio of the integrated intensity of reflection from the planes of fcc iron (austenite phase) to the integrated intensity of reflection from the planes of bcc iron (ferrite phase). The value of the volume fraction is used as a value of the area fraction. The C content of the retained austenite phase is calculated from the amount of shift of a diffraction peak corresponding to the (220) plane measured with X-ray diffractometer using CoKα radiation by means of the following expression: a=1.7889×(2)^(1/2)/sin θ a=3.578+0.033[C]+0.00095[Mn]+0.0006[Cr]+0.022[N]+0.0056[Al]+0.0015[Cu]+0.0031[Mo] where a represents the lattice constant (Å) of the austenite, θ represents a value obtained by dividing the diffraction peak angle (rad) corresponding to the (220) plane by 2, and [M] represents the content (% by mass) of an element M in the austenite (an element that is not contained is zero). The content (% by mass) of the element M in the retained austenite phase in the present disclosure is content with respect to the entire steel. 3) Applications and so Forth of Steel Sheet

Applications of the high-strength galvanized steel sheet of the present disclosure are not particularly limited. The high-strength galvanized steel sheet is preferably used for automobile parts.

The thickness (excluding the coat) of the high-strength galvanized steel sheet of the present disclosure is not particularly limited and is preferably 0.4 mm or more and 3.0 mm or less.

4) Production Conditions

The high-strength galvanized steel sheet of the present disclosure may be produced by, for example, a production method including a hot-rolling step of heating a slab having the chemical composition described above to a temperature of 1100° C. or higher, hot-rolling the slab at a finish rolling temperature of 800° C. or higher to produce a hot-rolled steel sheet, and coiling the hot-rolled steel sheet at a coiling temperature of 550° C. or lower; a cold-rolling step of cold-rolling the hot-rolled steel sheet at a cumulative rolling reduction of more than 20% to produce a cold-rolled steel sheet; a pre-annealing step of heating the cold-rolled steel sheet to an annealing temperature of 800° C. or higher and 1000° C. or lower, holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the annealing temperature for 10 s or more, and cooling the cold-rolled steel sheet to a cooling stop temperature of 550° C. or lower at a cooling stop temperature of 5° C./s or more; a final-annealing step of heating the cold-rolled steel sheet to an annealing temperature of 680° C. or higher and 790° C. or lower at an average heating rate of 10° C./s or less, holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the annealing temperature for 30 s or more and 1000 s or less, and cooling the cold-rolled steel sheet to a cooling stop temperature of 460° C. or higher and 550° C. or lower at an average cooling rate of 1.0° C./s or more, and holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the cooling stop temperature for 500 s or less; a galvanization step of galvanizing the cold-rolled steel sheet subjected to final annealing and, optionally, further heating the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet to 460° C. to 580° C. to perform galvannealing treatment, and cooling the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet to room temperature; and a tempering step of tempering the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet at a tempering temperature of 50° C. or higher and 400° C. or lower. The details will be described below.

4-1) Hot-Rolling Step

Slab Temperature: 1100° C. or Higher

A slab temperature of lower than 1100° C. results in an unmelted carbide, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the slab heating temperature is 1100° C. or higher. To suppress an increase in scale loss, the heating temperature of the slab is preferably 1300° C. or lower. In the hot-rolling step of the present disclosure, the temperature of a material, such as a slab, to be rolled refers to the surface temperature of a portion of the material, such as a slab, to be rolled, the portion being located in the middle of the material in the longitudinal and transverse directions.

The slab is preferably produced by a continuous casting process to prevent macro-segregation and may also be produced by an ingot-making process or a thin slab casting process. To hot-rolling the slab, the slab may be temporarily cooled to room temperature, reheated, and subjected to hot rolling. The slab may be placed in a heating furnace without cooling to room temperature to perform hot rolling. An energy-saving process may be employed in which hot rolling is performed immediately after the slab is slightly heated.

Finish Rolling Temperature: 800° C. or Higher

When the finish rolling temperature is lower than 800° C., because a ferrite phase and so forth is formed, rolling is performed in a two-phase region to form a nonuniform microstructure of the steel sheet, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the finish rolling temperature is 800° C. or higher. The upper limit of the finish rolling temperature is not particularly limited and is preferably 950° C. or lower.

When the slab is hot-rolled, a rough bar after rough rolling may be heated in order to prevent the occurrence of a trouble even if the heating temperature of the slab is reduced. A continuous rolling process may also be employed in which rough bars are joined together and finish rolling is continuously performed. The finish rolling can increase the anisotropy to reduce the workability after the cold rolling and annealing and thus is preferably performed at a finishing temperature equal to or higher than the Ar₃ transformation point. To reduce the rolling load and uniformize the shape and the material properties, all or some passes of the finish rolling is preferably replaced with lubrication rolling at a coefficient of friction of 0.10 to 0.25.

Coiling Temperature: 550° C. or Lower

A coiling temperature higher than 550° C. results in the formation of soft phases, such as a ferrite phase and a pearlite phase, in a hot-rolled coil, thus failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the coiling temperature is 550° C. or lower. The lower limit is not particularly specified and is preferably 400° C. or higher because a coiling temperature lower than 400° C. results in the degradation of the form of the sheet.

The hot-rolled steel sheet that has been coiled is subjected to pickling to remove scales. Then the hot-rolled steel sheet is subjected to cold rolling, pre-annealing, final annealing, galvanization, tempering, and so forth under conditions described below.

4-2) Cold-Rolling Step

Cumulative Rolling Reduction: More than 20%

A cumulative rolling reduction of 20% or less is liable to lead to the formation of coarse grains during annealing, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the cumulative rolling reduction in the cold rolling is more than 20% and preferably 30% or more. The upper limit is not particularly specified and is preferably about 90% or less and more preferably 75% or less in view of the stability of the form of the sheet.

In the present disclosure, the microstructure is formed by the pre-annealing step, the final annealing step, and the tempering step. In the pre-annealing step, after the formation of an austenite phase, cooling is performed so as to inhibit soft microstructures, such as a ferrite phase and a pearlite phase, thereby forming hard microstructures including a bainite phase, a martensite phase, and so forth. Subsequently, in the final annealing step, a fine austenite phase is formed on a hard microstructure basis by controlling the heating rate and the annealing temperature. Furthermore, the bainite phase is inhibited by controlling the holding of the cooling, thereby forming a retained austenite phase and the martensite phase that have low C contents. In the tempering step, the martensite phase is tempered to form a tempered martensite phase. The details will be described below.

4-3) Pre-Annealing Step

Annealing Temperature: 800° C. or Higher and 1000° C. or Lower

When the annealing temperature in the pre-annealing step s lower than 800° C., the austenite phase is insufficiently formed, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. When the annealing temperature in the pre-annealing step is higher than 1000° C., coarse austenite grains are formed, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the annealing temperature in the pre-annealing step is 800° C. or higher and 1000° C. or lower and preferably 800° C. or higher and 930° C. or lower.

Holding Time of 10 s or More at Annealing Temperature

When the annealing holding time in the pre-annealing is less than 10 s, austenite is insufficiently formed, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the annealing holding time in the ore-annealing step is 10 s or more. The annealing holding time in the pre-annealing is not particularly limited and is preferably 500 s or less.

Average Cooling Rate: 5° C./s or More

When the average cooling rate is less than 5° C./s from the annealing temperature to 550° C., a ferrite phase and a pearlite phase are formed during cooling, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the average cooling rate is 5° C./s or more and preferably 8° C./s or more at temperatures up to 550° C.

In the present disclosure, the symbol “s” used as the unit of each of the average heating rate and the average cooling rate refers to “seconds”.

Cooling Stop Temperature: 550° C. or Lower

When the cooling stop temperature at an average cooling rate of 5° C./s or more is higher than 550° C., large amounts of the ferrite phase and the pearlite phase are formed, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the cooling stop temperature at an average cooling rate of 5° C./s or more is 550° C. or lower. In the case of a cooling stop temperature lower than 550° C., the cooling rate at temperatures lower than 550° C. is not particularly limited and may be less than 5° C./s. The lower limit of the cooling stop temperature may be appropriately adjusted and is preferably 0° C. or higher. In the present disclosure, reheating may be performed after cooling in the pre-annealing step. The reheating temperature is preferably 50° C. to 550° C. from the viewpoint of inhibiting the ferrite phase and the pearlite phase. The holding time at the reheating temperature is preferably 1 to 1000 s from the viewpoint of inhibiting the ferrite phase and the pearlite phase. After the pre-annealing, cooling is performed to 50° C. or lower.

4-4) Final Annealing Step

Average Heating Rate: 10° C./s or Less

When the average heating rate is more than 10° C./s at temperatures up to the annealing temperature, coarse austenite is formed, thereby failing to obtain the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the average heating rate is 10° C./s or less. The average heating rate is a value obtained by dividing the temperature difference between the annealing temperature and 200° C. by the heating time it takes for the temperature to increase from 200° C. to the annealing temperature.

Annealing Temperature: 680° C. or Higher and 790° C. or Lower

An annealing temperature lower than 680° C. results in insufficient formation of an austenite phase thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. An annealing temperature of higher than 790° C. results in excessive formation of the austenite phase, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the annealing temperature is 680° C. or higher and 790° C. or lower and preferably 700° C. or higher and 790° C. or lower.

Holding Time of 30 s or More and 1000 s or Less at Annealing Temperature

An annealing holding time of less than 30 s results in insufficient formation of an austenite phase, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. An annealing holding time of more than 1000 s results in the formation of a coarse austenite phase, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the annealing holding time is 30 to 1000 s. The lower limit of the annealing holding time is preferably 60 s or more. The upper limit is preferably 600 s or less.

Average Cooling Rate: 1.0° C./s or More

When the average cooling rate is less than 1.0° C./s at temperatures from the annealing temperature to the cooling stop temperature, large amounts of an ferrite phase and a pearlite phase or a bainite phase are formed during cooling, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the average cooling rate is 1.0° C./s or more. The upper limit of the average cooling rate is not particularly limited, may be appropriately adjusted, and preferably 100° C./s or less.

Cooling Stop Temperature: 460° C. or Higher and 550° C. or Lower

When the cooling stop temperature at an average cooling rate of 1.0° C./s or more is lower than 460° C., a large amount of a bainite phase is formed, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. When the cooling stop temperature is higher than 550° C., large amounts of a ferrite phase and a pearlite phase are formed, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the cooling stop temperature is 460° C. or higher and 550° C. or lower.

Cooling Stop Holding Time: 500 s or Less

A cooling stop holding time of more than 500 s results in the formation of large amounts of a bainite phase and a pearlite phase, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the cooling stop holding time is 500 s or less. The lower limit of the cooling stop holding time is not particularly limited and may be appropriately adjusted. The cooling stop holding time may be zero. The term “cooling stop holding time” used here refers to the time the time from cooling to 550° C. or lower after annealing to immersion in a galvanizing bath. The temperature at the time of the stoppage of the cooling need not be exactly maintained after the stoppage of the cooling. Cooling and heating may be performed as long as the temperature range is 460° C. or higher and 550° C. or less.

4-5) Galvanization Step

Galvanization treatment is preferably performed by dipping the steel sheet that has been produced as described above in a galvanizing bath with a temperature of 440° C. or higher and 500° C. or lower and then adjusting the coating weight by, for example, gas wiping. When the zinc coat is alloyed, the alloying is preferably performed by holding the galvanized steel sheet at a temperature range of 460° C. or higher and 580° C. or lower for 1 s or more and 120 s or less. In the galvanization, the galvanizing bath having an Al content of 0.08% or more by mass and 0.25% or less by mass is preferably used.

The steel sheet subjected to galvanization may be subjected to any of various coating treatments, such as resin coating and oil/fat coating.

4-6) Tempering Step

Tempering Temperature: 50° C. or Higher and 400° C. or Lower

A tempering temperature lower than 50° C. results in insufficient tempering of the martensite phase, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. A tempering temperature of higher than 400° C. results in the decomposition of the austenite phase, thereby failing to the microstructure of the steel sheet of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the tempering temperature is 50° C. or higher and 400° C. or lower. The lower limit of the tempering temperature is preferably 100° C. or higher. The upper limit is preferably 350° C. or lower. The tempering treatment may be performed with any of a continuous annealing furnace, a box annealing furnace, and so forth. When the steel sheet is subjected to tempering treatment in the form of a coil, that is, when the steel sheet is in contact with itself, the tempering time is preferably 24 hours or less in view of, for example, the inhibition of adhesion.

4-7) Temper Rolling Step

Elongation Rate: 0.05% or More and 1.00% or Less

In the present disclosure, temper rolling may be performed at an elongation rate of 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less before and/or after the tempering step. This temper rolling increases the yield strength (YS). The effect is provided at an elongation rate of 0.05% or more. An elongation rate of more than 1.00% might result in a reduction in uniform elongation. Accordingly, when the temper rolling step is performed, the elongation rate in the temper rolling is 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less.

EXAMPLES

Exemplary examples are described below. The technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the following examples. Table 2-1 and Table 2-2 are collectively referred to as Table 2.

Molten steels having chemical compositions listed in Table 1 were formed in a vacuum melting furnace and rolled into steel slabs. Under conditions listed in Table 2, these steel slabs were subjected to heating, rough rolling, finish rolling, cooling, and a process equivalent to coiling to provide hot-rolled steel sheets. Each of the hot-rolled steel sheets was subjected to cold rolling to a thickness of 1.4 mm to provide a cold-rolled steel sheet, followed by pre-annealing and final annealing. The cold-rolled steel sheet was subjected to galvanization (with a galvanizing bath containing an Al content of 0.08% or more by mass and 0.25% or less by mass), cooling to room temperature, and tempering treatment. In some cases, temper rolling was performed before and/or after tempering treatment. Steel sheets 1 to 37 were produced under those conditions. The annealing was performed in a laboratory with a simulated continuous galvanizing line under conditions listed in Table 2 to produce galvanized steel sheets (GI) and galvannealed steel sheets (GA). The galvanized steel sheets were produced by immersing the steel sheets in a galvanizing bath with a temperature of 460° C. to form a coated layer at a coating weight of 35 to 45 g/m². The galvannealed steel sheets were produced by performing galvanization and then galvannealing in the range of 460° C. to 580° C. The tensile properties, the bendability, and the impact resistance of the resulting galvanized and galvannealed steel sheets were determined according to the following test methods. Table 3 lists the results.

<Tensile Test>

A JIS No. 5 test piece for a tensile test (JIS Z 2201) was taken from each of the steel sheets that had been subjected to a final production step, in a direction perpendicular to a rolling direction. A tensile test according to JIS Z 2241 was performed at a strain rate of 10⁻³/s to determine the tensile strength (TS), the yield strength (YS), and the uniform elongation (UEL). A steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) of 11.80 MPa or more, a yield strength (YS) of 850 MPa or more, and a uniform elongation (UEL) of 7.0% or more was rated pass.

<Bending Test>

A strip test piece having a width of 35 mm and a length of 100 mm was taken from each of the annealed sheets in such a manner that a direction parallel to the rolling direction was the direction of a bending axis for the test, and was subjected to a bending test. Specifically, a 90° V-bending test was performed at stroke speed of 10 mm/s, a pressing load of 10 tons, a press-holding time of 5 s, and a bending radius R of 2.0 mm. A ridge portion at the apex of the resulting bend was observed using a magnifier with a magnification of ×10. At one point in the width direction, a steel sheet in which a crack having a length of 0.5 mm was formed was rated poor, and a steel sheet in which a crack having a length less than 0.5 mm was formed was rated good.

TABLE 1 Chemical composition (% by mass) Steel C Si Mn P S Al N Others Remarks A 0.15 130 2.9 0.012 0.0012 0.031 0.002 — within scope of disclosure B 0.17 0.90 3.1 0.009 0.0018 0.033 0.003 — within scope of disclosure C 0.23 1.50 2.5 0.015 0.0011 0.035 0.002 — within scope of disclosure D 0.20 1.60 2.6 0.011 0.0022 0.410 0.003 — within scope of disclosure E 0.18 1.20 3.0 0.005 0.0041 0.019 0.002 Cr: 0.40 within scope of disclosure F 0.16 0.60 3.5 0.013 0.0020 0.022 0.001 B: 0.0023 within scope of disclosure G 0.17 1.40 31 0.025 0.0009 0.031 0.002 Ni: 0.20 within scope of disclosure H 0.20 1.80 2.6 0.003 0.0023 0.038 0.003 Cu: 0.30 within scope of disclosure I 0.18 1 80 2.7 0.015 0.0048 0.025 0.002 Ca: 0.001 within scope of disclosure J 0.19 1.90 2.8 0.007 0.0017 0.044 0.002 REM: 0.002 within scope of disclosure K 0.13 1.30 2.6 0.009 0.0014 0.029 0.003 — outside scope of disclosure L 0.28 1.70 2.5 0.015 0.0008 0.030 0.003 — outside scope of disclosure M 0.17 0.20 2.7 0.019 0.0021 0.035 0.003 — outside scope of disclosure N 0.21 1.70 2.1 0.011 0.0016 0.010 0.002 — outside scope of disclosure O 0.22 0.70 2.9 0.016 0.0027 2.700 0.004 — outside scope of disclosure P 0.15 1.30 4.5 0.012 0.0012 0.031 0.002 — outside scope of disclosure

TABLE 2-1 Cold-rolling Pre-annealing conditions Hot-rollinng conditions conditions Anneal- Anneal- Cooling Cooling Re- Re- Slab Finish Coiling Cumulative ing ing Average stop stop heating heating Steel heating rolling temp- rolling temp- holding cooling temp- holding temp- holding sheet temperature temperature erature reduction erature time rate erature time erature time No. Steel (° C.) (° C.) (° C.) (%) (° C.) (s) (° C./s) (° C.) (s) (° C.) (s)  1 A 1200 880 550 50 850 180 10 450 300 — —  2 1200 880 550 50 750 180 10 450 300 — —  3 1200 880 550 50 1050 180 10 450 300 — —  4 1200 880 550 50 850 180 1 450 300 — —  5 1200 880 550 50 850 180 10 600 300 — —  6 B 1200 870 500 56 810 300 8 350 900 450 60  7 1200 870 500 56 810 5 8 350 900 450 60  8 1200 870 500 56 810 300 8 350 900 450 60  9 1200 870 500 56 810 300 8 350 900 450 60 10 1200 870 500 56 810 300 8 350 900 450 60 11 1200 870 500 56 810 300 8 350 900 450 60 12 C 1200 890 450 53 880 120 15 500 180 — — 13 1200 890 450 53 880 120 6 500 180 — — 14 1200 890 450 53 880 120 15 500 180 — — 15 1200 890 450 53 880 120 15 500 180 — — 16 D 1200 900 450 42 900 180 20 250 120 — — 17 1200 900 450 42 900 180 20 250 120 — — 18 1200 900 450 42 900 180 20 250 120 — — 19 1200 900 600 42 900 180 20 250 120 — — 20 E 1200 900 500 43 870 60 12 400 300 — — 21 1200 900 500 43 870 60 12 400 300 — — 22 1200 900 500 10 870 60 12 400 300 — — 23 1200 900 500 43 870 60 12 400 300 — — 24 F 1200 880 550 61 880 30 10 200 600 — — 25 1200 880 550 61 880 30 10 200 600 — — 26 1200 880 550 61 880 30 10 200 600 — — 27 G 1200 880 500 65 850 480 1000 25 — — — 28 1200 880 500 65 850 480 1000 25 5 400 600 29 H 1200 880 500 36 850 120 15 400 300 — — 30 I 1200 880 500 36 850 120 15 250 10 500 300 31 J 1200 880 500 50 850 120 15 200 10 300 600 32 K 1200 880 500 50 850 120 15 400 300 — — 33 L 1200 880 500 50 850 120 15 400 300 — — 34 M 1200 880 500 50 850 120 15 400 300 — — 35 N 1200 880 500 53 850 120 15 400 300 — — 36 O 1200 950 500 50 950 300 50 400 300 — — 37 P 1200 880 550 50 850 180 10 450 300 — —

TABLE 2-2 Final annealing conditions Temper Temper Cooling Coating conditions rolling after rolling after Average stop Alloying coating Tempering conditions tempering Steel heating Annealing Annealing Average Cooling stop holding coating bath Alloying holding Elongation Tempering Tempering Elongation sheet rate temperature holding time cooling rate temperature time temperature temperature time Coated rate temperature time rate No. Steel (° C./s) (° C.) (s) (° C./s) (° C.) (s) (° C.) (° C.) (s) state* (%) (° C.) (s) (%) Remarks  1 A 5 740 120 10 500 60 465 550 20 GA — 250 7200 — Example  2 5 740 120 10 500 60 465 550 20 GA — 250 7200 — Comparative example  3 5 740 120 10 500 60 465 550 20 GA — 250 7200 — Comparative example  4 5 740 120 10 500 60 465 550 20 GA — 250 7200 — Comparative example  5 5 740 120 10 500 60 465 550 20 GA — 250 7200 — Comparative example  6 B 3 760 300 8 460 30 465 — 10 GI — 200 4800 — Example  7 3 760 300 8 460 30 465 — 10 GI — 200 4800 — Comparative example  8 30 760 300 8 460 30 465 — 10 GI _— 200 4800 — Comparative example  9 3 670 300 8 460 30 465 — 10 GI — 200 4800 — Comparative example 10 3 810 300 8 460 30 465 — 10 GI — 200 4800 — Comparative example 11 3 820 300 30 460 30 465 — 10 GI — 200 4800 — Comparative example 12 C 8 780 60 15 480 10 465 580 15 GA 0.20 200 72000 — Example 13 8 780 5 15 480 10 465 580 15 GA 0.20 200 72000 — Comparative example 14 8 780 1500 15 480 10 465 580 15 GA 0.20 200 72000 — Comparative example 15 8 780 60 0.5 480 10 465 580 15 GA 0.20 200 72000 — Comparative example 16 D 5 770 120 30 500 30 465 520 20 GA — 250 60 — Example 17 5 770 120 30 600 30 465 520 20 GA — 250 60 — Comparative example 18 5 770 120 30 500 900 465 520 20 GA — 250 60 — Comparative example 19 5 770 120 30 500 30 465 520 20 GA — 250 60 — Comparative example 20 E 6 750 120 6 520 300 465 — 20 GI 0.10 300 10 — Example 21 6 750 120 6 520 300 465 — 20 GI — 300 10 0.20 Example 22 6 750 120 6 520 300 465 — 20 GI 0.10 300 10 — Comparative example 23 6 750 120 6 380 300 465 — 20 GI 0.10 300 10 — Comparative example 24 F 2 700 600 3 550 480 465 480 30 GA — 150 7200 — Example 25 2 700 600 3 550 480 465 480 30 GA — 45 7200 Comparative example 26 2 700 600 3 550 480 465 480 30 GA — 450 7200 — Comparative example 27 G 6 740 480 12 500 5 465 510 120 GA 0.40 350 2 — Example 28 6 740 480 12 500 5 465 510 120 GA 0.40 350 2 — Example 29 H 10 780 60 15 500 180 465 550 40 GA — 270 600 — Example 30 I 1 780 60 15 500 180 465 550 40 GA 0.10 200 36000 0.20 Example 31 J 5 780 60 15 500 180 465 550 60 GA — 250 7200 0.20 Example 32 K 5 750 120 15 500 180 465 550 60 GA — 300 120 — Comparative example 33 L 5 780 120 15 500 180 465 550 60 GA — 300 120 — Comparative example 34 M 5 730 120 15 500 180 465 500 60 GA — 300 120 — Comparative example 35 N 5 750 120 15 500 180 465 550 60 GA — 300 120 — Comparative example 36 O 5 750 120 15 500 180 465 510 60 GA — 300 120 — Comparative example 37 P 5 750 120 10 500 60 465 550 20 GA — 250 7200 — Comparative example *Coated state: GI: galvanized steel sheet, GA: galvannealed steel sheet

TABLE 3 Steel Steel structure Mechanical properties sheet V(TM)*¹ V(F)*¹ V(γ)*¹ Others*1 V(M)*¹ V(BF)*¹ d(TM)*² C(γ)*³ YS TS UEL Bend- No. (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (μm) (%) (MPa) (MPa) (%) ability Remarks  1 42 48 9 1 0 0 2 0.4 870 1182 10.1 good Example  2 23 70 5 2 0 0 2 0.4 695 1102 9.2 good Comparative example  3 43 49 7 1 0 0 9 0.4 865 1188 9.4 poor Comparative example  4 29 55 4 12 0 0 2 0.3 793 1134 8.8 good Comparative example  5 28 58 3 11 0 0 3 0.3 789 1126 8.8 good Comparative example  6 52 43 4 1 0 1 4 0.3 907 1231 9.1 good Example  7 29 68 3 0 0 0 4 0.3 805 1140 8.9 good Comparative example  8 58 39 3 0 0 0 9 0.2 939 1268 7.9 poor Comparative example  9 19 72 9 0 0 0 1 0.3 684 967 10.9 good Comparative example 10 62 21 2 15 0 15 6 0.2 995 1302 6.5 good Comparative example 11 75 24 1 0 0 0 7 0.2 1016 1353 6.1 good Comparative example 12 52 39 6 3 0 0 4 0.4 1185 1366 9.4 good Example 13 28 64 4 4 0 0 4 0.4 839 1175 9.9 good Comparative example 14 61 31 3 5 0 2 9 0.4 1117 1371 7.2 poor Comparative example 15 53 34 3 10 0 7 4 0.4 1123 1359 6.9 good Comparative example 16 48 48 3 1 0 1 3 0.5 951 1293 9.5 good Example 17 36 53 1 10 0 0 3 0.3 896 1192 6.6 good Comparative example 18 21 48 6 25 0 25 3 0.4 877 1116 9.8 good Comparative example 19 50 44 1 5 0 5 4 0.4 965 1296 6.9 good Comparative example 20 38 52 8 2 0 2 2 0.6 955 1257 8.9 good Example 21 38 53 7 2 0 2 2 0.6 946 1254 8.8 good Example 22 43 50 6 1 0 1 10 0.6 933 1263 8.8 poor Comparative example 23 30 51 4 15 0 15 2 0.5 882 1177 8.3 good Comparative example 24 32 55 13 0 0 0 1 0.1 855 1229 13.8 good Example 25 2 55 13 30 30 0 1 0.1 733 1288 13.5 poor Comparative example 26 32 55 1 12 0 3 1 0.1 942 1126 5.8 good Comparative example 27 40 53 4 3 0 2 2 0.5 899 1230 7.7 good Example 28 41 52 4 3 0 2 2 0.5 903 1234 7.5 good Example 29 58 35 3 4 0 2 3 0.4 962 1281 7.2 good Example 30 61 35 2 2 0 1 3 0.3 1043 1310 7.3 good Example 31 63 33 3 1 0 0 3 0.3 1022 1316 7.9 good Example 32 38 55 2 5 0 3 2 0.4 860 1099 8.8 good Comparative example 33 41 44 9 6 0 0 4 0.5 856 1346 10.3 poor Comparative example 34 48 45 1 6 0 3 1 0.3 879 1249 6.7 good Comparative example 35 37 48 1 14 0 8 2 0.4 880 1160 6.9 good Comparative example 36 39 60 1 0 0 0 1 0.4 875 1178 8.2 poor Comparative example 37 53 20 27 0 0 0 2 0.4 1024 1463 6.8 poor Comparative example *¹V(TM), V(F), V(γ), V(M), V(BF), and others: The area fractions of a tempered martensite phase, a ferrite phase, a retained austenite phase, a martensite phase, and a bainitic ferrite phase, respectively. Others: the area fraction of phases including V(M), V(BF), and a phase other than the foregoing phases. *²d(TM): The average grain size of the tempered martensite phase. *³C(γ): The C content of the retained austenite phase.

Any of the high-strength galvanized steel sheets according to the examples of the present disclosure have a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more, a yield strength (YS) of 850 MPa or more, a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more, and good bendability. In the comparative examples, which are outside the scope of the present disclosure, a desired tensile strength (TS) is not obtained, a desired yield strength (YS) is not obtained, a desired uniform elongation is not obtained, or a desired bendability is not obtained.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present disclosure, a high-strength galvanized steel sheet having a tensile strength (TS) of 1180 MPa or more, a yield strength (YS) of 850 MPa or more, a uniform elongation of 7.0% or more, and good bendability is provided. The use of the high-strength galvanized steel sheet of the present disclosure for automobile parts contributes to a reduction in the weight of automobiles to markedly contribute to an increase in the performance of automobile bodies. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A galvanized steel sheet, the steel sheet having a chemical composition comprising: C: 0.15% or more and 0.25% or less, by mass %; Si: 0.50% or more and 2.5% or less, by mass %; Mn: 2.3% or more and 4.0% or less, by mass %; P: 0.100% or less, by mass %; S: 0.02% or less, by mass %; Al: 0.01% or more and 2.5% or less, by mass %; and Fe and inevitable impurities, wherein the steel sheet has a microstructure containing, in terms of area fraction: a tempered martensite phase: 30% or more and 73% or less, where the tempered martensite phase has an average grain size of 8 μm or less, a ferrite phase: 25% or more and 68% or less, a retained austenite phase: 2% or more and 20% or less, where the retained austenite phase has a C content of less than 0.7% by mass, and other phases: 10% or less (including 0%), of which other phases containing: (i) a martensite phase: 3% or less (including 0%), and (ii) a bainitic ferrite phase: less than 5% (including 0%).
 2. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the chemical composition further comprises at least one group selected from the groups consisting of A, B, and C: group A—at least one element selected from: Cr: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, by mass %, Ni: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, by mass %, and Cu: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, by mass %, group B—B: 0.0002% or more and 0.0050% or less, by mass %, and group C—at least one element selected from: Ca: 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less, by mass %, and REM: 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less, by mass %.
 3. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 2, wherein the galvanized steel sheet includes a galvannealed steel sheet.
 4. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 3, wherein the galvanized steel sheet has a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more.
 5. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 2, wherein the galvanized steel sheet has a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more.
 6. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the galvanized steel sheet includes a galvannealed steel sheet.
 7. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 6, wherein the galvanized steel sheet has a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more.
 8. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the galvanized steel sheet has a tensile strength of 1180 MPa or more.
 9. The galvanized steel sheet according to claim 1, wherein the area fraction of the ferrite phase is 33% or more and 55% or less.
 10. A method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 1, the method comprising: a hot-rolling step including: (i) heating a slab to a temperature of 1100° C. or higher, (ii) hot-rolling the slab at a finish rolling temperature of 800° C. or higher to produce a hot-rolled steel sheet, and (iii) coiling the hot-rolled steel sheet at a coiling temperature of 550° C. or lower, the slab having a chemical composition comprising: C: 0.15% or more and 0.25% or less, by mass %, Si: 0.50% or more and 2.5% or less, by mass %, Mn: 2.3% or more and 4.0% or less, by mass %, P: 0.100% or less, by mass %, S: 0.02% or less, by mass %, Al: 0.01% or more and 2.5% or less, by mass %, and Fe and inevitable impurities; a cold-rolling step of cold-rolling the hot-rolled steel sheet at a cumulative rolling reduction of more than 20% to produce a cold-rolled steel sheet; a pre-annealing step including: (i) heating the cold-rolled steel sheet to an annealing temperature of 800° C. or higher and 1000° C. or lower, (ii) holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the annealing temperature for 10 s or more, and (iii) cooling the cold-rolled steel sheet to a cooling stop temperature of 550° C. or lower at an average cooling rate of 5° C./s or more; a final-annealing step including: (i) heating the cold-rolled steel sheet to an annealing temperature of 680° C. or higher and 790° C. or lower at an average heating rate of 10° C./s or less, (ii) holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the annealing temperature for 30 s or more and 1000 s or less, (iii) cooling the cold-rolled steel sheet to a cooling stop temperature of 460° C. or higher and 550° C. or lower at an average cooling rate of 1.0° C./s or more, and (iv) holding the cold-rolled steel sheet at the cooling stop temperature for 500 s or less; a galvanization step of galvanizing the cold-rolled steel sheet subjected to the final-annealing step and cooling the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet to room temperature; and a tempering step of tempering the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet at a tempering temperature of 50° C. or higher and 400° C. or lower.
 11. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 10, wherein the galvanization step further includes, after the galvanization, galvannealing the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet at a temperature range of 460° C. or higher and 580° C. or lower for 1 s or more and 120 s or less and then cooling the galvannealed cold-rolled steel sheet to room temperature.
 12. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 11, further comprising, before and/or after the tempering step, a temper-rolling step of temper rolling the galvannealed cold-rolled steel sheet at an elongation rate of 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less.
 13. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 10, further comprising, before and/or after the tempering step, a temper-rolling step of temper rolling the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet at an elongation rate of 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less.
 14. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 10, wherein the chemical composition further comprises at least one group selected from the groups consisting of A, B, and C: group A—at least one element selected from: Cr: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, by mass %, Ni: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, by mass %, and Cu: 0.01% or more and 2.0% or less, by mass %, group B—B: 0.0002% or more and 0.0050% or less, by mass %, and group C—at least one element selected from: Ca: 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less, by mass %, and REM: 0.001% or more and 0.005% or less, by mass %.
 15. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 14, wherein the galvanization step further includes, after the galvanization, galvannealing the galvanized cold-rolled steel at a temperature range of 460° C. or higher and 580° C. or lower for 1 s or more and 120 s or less and then cooling the galvannealed cold-rolled steel sheet room temperature.
 16. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 15, further comprising, before and/or after the tempering step, a temper-rolling step of temper rolling the galvannealed cold-rolled steel sheet at an elongation rate of 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less.
 17. The method for producing the galvanized steel sheet according to claim 14, further comprising, before and/or after the tempering step, a temper-rolling step of temper rolling the galvanized cold-rolled steel sheet at an elongation rate of 0.05% or more and 1.00% or less. 